An exciting tale awaits audiences on a journey to the Mediterranean coast, a colorful bazaar, a mysterious pirate’s cave, and a magnificent pasha’s palace. Excellent ballet dancing narrates it all. Theater goers can watch Ballet Manila’s production of Le Corsaire (The Pirate) at the Aliw Theater on February 24, 2024 at 8pm and February 25, 2024 at 5pm.
Le Corsaire centers on the story of Conrad. He captains a pirate ship with his faithful crew and sails across the high seas on a mission to rescue his love, Medora. Lankendem, a slave trader who is selling girls in a busy marketplace, holds her captive.
The story is a ballet classic. However, Ballet Manila artistic director and chief executive officer Lisa Macuja-Elizalde has always wanted to re-work Le Corsaire. She has portrayed the role of Medora countless times. From her own experience, she always found the character to be a damsel in distress. She shared, “I always thought her character to be a bit weak, waiting for Conrad to save her; even getting captured twice!”
In Ballet Manila’s retelling, Macuja-Elizalde puts forward an empowered Medora. She puts the spotlight on the character’s inner courage to endure challenges, all in the name of love.
More importantly, for Macuja-Elizalde, the main draw of re-telling the story was giving all the main characters their moments to shine.
“There are many principal characters that will get to show off their technical and virtuosic feats as the ballet unfolds. The ballet doesn’t just depend on Medora and Conrad or on one principal couple, unlike Don Quixote or Swan Lake for example. Le Corsaire features Medora, Conrad, Gulnara, Lankadem, Ali and Birbanto – five principal roles.”
Giving the Supporting Cast Their Moment
The story centers on these five important roles. Even so, she also puts the focus on the supporting characters who make the story just as impactful and memorable. For one, a wealthy pasha (high-ranking officer) adds comedic moments to the story. Lankendem sold Medora to him.
The master choreographer in Macuja-Elizalde has also given beautiful soloist roles to three ballerinas in The Odalisques. She has built up strong male dancers as the pirates. In addition, she has created a beautiful corps de ballet in The Living Garden Naila Waltz.
Reordering the Story for Greater Impact
The fresh take on Le Corsaire also changes the order of the main dances to build up the story further. “I felt that there should be a building up of the main dances – The Odalisques coming in the third act for me was a bit anti-climactic.”
Her version will have heroes flying through the air in their first entrance. In the original version, in contrast, they lie on the ground after the shipwreck.
“This is why I am very excited to be able to do exactly this – create my own version of Le Corsaire,” she added. “It’s a ballet that has everything. A journey to the Mediterranean coast, a bazaar, a pirate’s cave, a pasha’s palace. It has something for everyone!”
One of the strengths of Ballet Manila has always been its male and female corps. She feels that they have once again highlighted this in Le Corsaire.
“Although it’s a very physically demanding ballet, it is also very exciting, dynamic and entertaining. It’s a ballet for the whole family to enjoy!” she promised.
For tickets, visit Ticketworld (https://bit.ly/BuyTicketsBMLeCorsaire2024) or call 8891 9999. To know more about Ballet Manila and its shows, visit www.balletmanila.com.ph.
